Wessyngton Plantation Named in Honor of Washingtons’ Ancestral Home

Washington Family Crest

The Washingtons trace their ancestry back to William de Hertburn in twelfth-century England where their family owned a manor estate called Wessyngton─the Norman spelling of Washington.William de Hertburn changed his name to William de Wessyngton.The first Washington to come to America in Joseph Washington’s line was John Washington, who immigrated to Surry County, Virginia, in 1658.One of John’s cousins also named John immigrated to Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1656.This John Washington was the great-grandfather of President George Washington.Joseph Washington came to Robertson County, Tennessee in 1796 and established Wessyngton Plantation, which he named in honor of his ancestral home.